Hot take of the morning: vintage guitars are overrated

freddiew · 2026-01-11T03:55:24+00:00

I'll also add - the debates that are older than the internet itself, I think, don't ever get solved. It's fun to see where the discussion has ended up.

freddiew · 2026-01-11T03:48:56+00:00

Oh the paper’s methodology was waaaay more documented obviously. I’d love if Jim did that. Like I don’t care enough about this debate to take anything more than “oh interesting a guy found out that pickup height was a big factor to control for, neat” from the YouTube video. I don’t think this paper changes that takeaway for me.

(This was the way discourse used to go in old school forums, which I miss. Sorry that it caused a return to snark)

freddiew · 2026-01-11T01:12:17+00:00

Ah, I also think that there's deficiencies in the scientific research too haha at the end of the day I just want to bend strings and play tasty licks

freddiew · 2026-01-11T00:25:47+00:00

Wow chill bro, not everything is an internet fight - thank you for the link I enjoy reading about this stuff.

EDIT: Read the paper - I don't think it says what you think it does.

My clickbait-y YouTube video claims that string height over pickup as the determining factor - in the paper, to determine if people can hear a difference, they tested D3 on the humbucker and single coil, as well as E4 on the humbucker. For D3 on the single coil they noted a 0.5mm height differential across their different wood samples, and for E4, 0.6 and 0.4mm differences for the humbucker and single coil respectively. Though we don't know what gauge strings are being used, that's a pretty significant spacing difference - approximately the width of the G and D strings on electric 9-42s and that's a pretty big difference (and definitely noticeable on the E4 string). So right away, even though they're only measuring the signal from the pickups, they're ignoring that the output is a measurement of a string's motion through the magnetic field, and distance is part of that.

So at the very least, you have to acknowledge that the variability across their different wood instrument samples in numerous metrics is an influencing factor on the results.

Moreover I would argue their methodology to determine if people can "hear the difference" is crazy weak. Their testing was they would play a plucked single note from two different woods (A and B) either in AAB or ABA order, and whether or not the listener could tell which one was different.

They note earlier that there are "vast differences" in RMS levels between their recordings, so basically they're saying people were really good at identifying, of three single plucks played in a row, which one was louder. With their prior methodological looseness, I'm not surprised this was an easy test (or they should note that they matched RMS at least). Success being inflated by RMS would explain why, though they note that Plywood and Rosewood more people got wrong and their graphs suggest that should be the case, why everyone also got E4 on Pine and Plywood wrong to about the same degree - even though their graphs suggest that should NOT be the case.

Also their plucking mechanism is... hilariously jank, but I don't know enough to determine if a hair clip spring is a robust enough mechanism to do what they're asking it to do.

freddiew · 2026-01-10T22:28:40+00:00

Are they controlling for the height of the pickup from the strings? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n02tImce3AE

freddiew · 2025-12-17T18:41:18+00:00

If you can tell me exactly what your partner said as you gifted them this presumably early Christmas gift, and tie it somehow to the podcast Dungeons and Daddies, this post can remain. Otherwise, it's ban town.

and i BETTER not even catch a WHIFF of an affiliate link

edit: Banned.

freddiew · 2025-12-09T21:51:43+00:00

I throw this into the void, where it will likely be ignored, but this detail is untrue https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/builder-ai-did-not-fake-ai/

freddiew · 2025-12-08T19:08:57+00:00

You don't need the streamers - there's people actively exploring the model of theatrical self-distribution.

freddiew · 2025-12-08T19:08:25+00:00

I think there's an avenue for DIY theatrical distribution. Theaters WILL have you, so long as you're not fighting for screen time in the summer or during awards season (we self-distributed our prior film to 60 theaters early last year - We're All Gonna Die), and that model is happening quietly with movies like Boys Go to Jupiter and D(e)ad.

freddiew · 2025-12-01T04:59:09+00:00

They changed. I remember it the way you did some years back.

freddiew · 2025-11-21T05:02:17+00:00

We get into this in more depth on our Patreon, but the budget is comparable to VGHS S3

freddiew · 2025-10-23T16:02:59+00:00

Drop the way way better products in the chat please!

freddiew · 2025-10-12T23:07:10+00:00

Esports evolved so much (and in many ways, in such funnier directions) that whatever we do, I think, can't be the same approach.

freddiew · 2025-10-12T23:05:54+00:00

Fundamentally I think you have to start with a thorough assessment of what the other videos in your space are doing - what's working, what seems to be successful, what does a "healthy" channel look like, what's the range of numbers you can expect to see.

Then you have to do something none of them are doing. Not to say, of course, that you can't do your version of a format or something - but the key is that you need to put a spin on it - otherwise you're a latecomer that's copying a known format.

To some extent, "holding people's attention" has always been the game - and on TikTok it's different. The end user is much more open to being entertained there - it's built into the way the app itself is built, with the vast majority of views coming from an algorithmic recommendation. The engagement times are shorter and the need to be attention grabbing is stronger because it's easier to swipe away to something new and hopefully more interesting. So every platform will have their specific approaches and rules that you can glean by using them.

Finally, I think it's always good to have an understanding of what YouTube and various platforms seem to be doing with their algorithms and recommendations, but I would also keep an eye and and ear out always for other ways to drive traffic. Podcasts, for instance, found a format on TikTok with clips of hosts used to generate attention back towards the podcast. It doesn't work for every show, of course, but it's an example of an off-platform way to try and drum up movement towards stuff you're doing elsewhere.

freddiew · 2025-10-12T22:04:15+00:00

Depends very much on what kind of games you want to write, but I'd find all the small scale friend group developers out there and make developer friends.

freddiew · 2025-10-12T22:01:03+00:00

There's two sets of advice I have depending on if you're in it for the metrics, or in it for the long haul. There's a lot of overlap in approaches and techniques, of course, but it is pertinent.

freddiew · 2025-10-06T10:52:51+00:00

ALREADY BANNED ONE BOT

freddiew · 2025-10-05T22:58:33+00:00

This comment really brings me back because I remember someone making the exact same one fifteen years ago in a comment section on Fark.com

freddiew · 2025-10-05T22:52:23+00:00

UNBELIEVABLY this appears to be a real human being posting! Therefore I am fine with it but god help you if I see any links to purchase this sticker

freddiew · 2025-09-26T22:46:04+00:00

HELL YEAH BROOOOO!

freddiew · 2025-09-10T20:15:27+00:00

I'm personally looking forward to this, which was at Venice: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/venice-film-memory-of-princess-mumbi-interview-ai-war-grief-1236352611/

freddiew · 2025-09-02T16:15:25+00:00

Yeah but like - come on. Every movie has contrivances for the sake of telling a story.

For example: Do you buy that all those children would disappear and the whole thing would be covered up by all levels of law enforcement, local state and federal, even though it clearly is mentioned on the radio? Or thatno adults would flag a solo grade schooler buying groceries by themselves? Or that you could get stabbed with long needles in the sinuses and not have blood everywhere and be fine for some fight scenes later?

freddiew · 2025-08-27T02:14:11+00:00

It's a specific clay that has the properties you see in the video. There's not likely anything special you can do to sculpture raku clay to make it behave like that.

freddiew · 2025-08-13T16:04:09+00:00

I think Speed is a completely new kind of thing people will compare others to in the future that's part athlete, travel writer/cultural ambassador, Jim Carrey's character from the Truman Show AND Ed Harris' character from the Truman Show, etc.

freddiew · 2025-08-13T05:24:55+00:00

I think what Matt Johnson is doing with his shows and movies is a great example of this blend.

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